Iron County register., 1887-01-27
Rich and Poor Criminals.

H Is coiIpaTdtiVeiy easy 70 convict q
common criminal like Jaehne. He is
tried in the ordinary way, proved gull
ty by ordinary jury, and packed
promptly off TO Sing Sing as soon as
the men who tempted him to crime is
however, quite another matter. Here
justice has to deal with ordinary crin,-
inals. They are men of superior intel
llgence and experience: they have done
their dishonest work by the agency OF
practised Intermediates; they nra
shrewd, audacious, shifty; they will
stick at nothing, and they have mil
lions to spend, Iegitimately and fllegit-
lmately. in fighting the law. Only
through some piece of gross Careless
ness or negligence on bis own part does
one of these men lay himself omen IN
discovery. The prosecuting OFFICER
has hard task before him when he
undertakes to punish the wealthy
briber.
But suppose that instead of men with
millions, each ore of them possessed of
a little local influence, perhaps with
no great organized following in the
community, he had TO deal with men
whose fortunes ran into the hundreds
of millions, whose adherents were tn
be counted by the thousands. whose
schemes were conceived upon a gipan-
tic scale, and carried out with the Aid
of willing accomplices beyond number
Would not his task be infinitely hard
er yet? Would 1t not be well-nigh inn
possible?
Such is the security from punishment
which is enjoyed by the hundred- -times-
h0
who buys his way into a Legislative
body. He has committed a crims.s
thousand crimes-against the laws Of
the land. He has bought voters ana
suborned inspectors Of election. who
give false witness in his favor at tha
risk of going to jail themselves. Rnt
he is generally able to take his seat
with comfortable assurance that he
will not be turned out of it. Certainlv
he knows. he will never be punishesi !
his tbs known to moral certainfv
but who can prove it? He can afford.
To laugh at the outcry Of the helpless
people. He Is safe, and he may make
laws for them as he sees fit.
Nor can he see that he is DONG anv
wrong. or course, he will run through
soheme or two of his own and ner.
haps one or two more to oblipe tIa
friends who have obliged BIN. per-
haps these schemes might be cslfe.s
'Jobs' by the censorious. But II will
all go to the increase of the countrv,s
prosperity, and the advancement of
business interests In general so
where's the harm? And as for wh a.
he has already done ~ why, he has
brihed few hundred voters. or a fau,
dozen Assemblymen- but these
Wretches were vicious before he did
anything to corrpt them. Their sonls
were lost before he came around with
his temptation. What differences did
it make If they committed one crime
more, when crime was their regular
businesse And If he has apy fain I
quaims OF conscience, there is an easv
salve at hand in good resolutions. On
measures in which neither he nor his
allies may be personally interested. he
can afford himself tho luxury of vot-
ing according to his convictions. SO.
after all, except his business rivals. ani
there Is no harm done.
He has no idea whatever-let mo a.x,
this much for him-of the mischief ha
is really doing, or of its magnitnde
He does not dream how much Of thn
country's misery lies at his door. Vet
it is the influence of his example tha
more than any one thing else. tends tC.
corrupt the humber sinner. Ifama,,
may buy his seat in tbs Senate of the
United States, and not only escape
punishment, but retain hts place in sn-
ciety, why may not Jaehne sell his vote
as an alderman Is there one justice
for the rich aud ianother for the man
of small means?
But this Is not all. That onoat;o, ;~
asked OF the poor and weary laborer by
ms arch.tempter, the Senator from
Oieo-rlch, secure, comfortable, az
thcugh under the laws of the country
ne should be In Jail. IF you stole 4
nve-dol'ar coat, could you keep out OF
ihe pehlteniiary? Society is treating
you unJustiy. The law oppreSses you-
rise, ana meet the law with violence.
And The laborer, unfortunately, rarely
stops to reflect that 1t is not Society
that oppresses him, but Society that is
oppressed; that he is only sufferer
among his suffering w-citizsns in
all ranks Of life, that indeed, his en-
ployer is more sinned against than he
is. because the burden of the million
4ire legislators jobheyy falls directly
on the taxpayer. and only In part up.y,
the poor. He listens to the voice of th q
tempteF, aud tegins purpOseless 3. ,.rikes
ana almiess disturbance, visiting npon
the whole community the san of one
man. But it will be hard to convince
the millionaire eat-buyvr that this is
all his work.-Puck,
hahop futile
r..